Pesach in Jerusalem

Pesach has arrived. There is no mistaking the smells and flavors emitting from the kitchen. But even before the cooking is seriously underway, there are telltale hints.  Foremost among them are the cleaning, scrubbing, and shopping mania that seems to have possessed us all. It started me thinking, no wonder we conclude the Hagaddah with, “L’Shana Haba-ah B’yerusholayim - Next Year in Jerusalem.” Surely there in the Holy City of David the pace will be more relaxed and the preparations more spiritual than simply cleaning, scrubbing, shopping, etc.

In order to test out my theory, I did a little research. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that Pesach preparations in Jerusalem did not seem holier than they are, well, in Coral Springs. Here are the facts, and you judge for yourself.

Already two weeks prior to the festival one does not require an alarm clock. The clanging garbage trucks will do the trick as they roll through your neighborhood every morning hauling away all the refuse from the furious cleaning going on in every household. On Erev Pesach itself the garbage men make their rounds at least twice. (By the way, when do the garbage men clean?)

In Jerusalem, Pesach activities spill over from the home to the street. A week before the holiday, yeshiva students are wielding blow torches and tending huge vats of boiling water. Slow moving conga lines inch their way to local mikvehs to dunk cutlery, kiddush cups, etc. 

The day of the Seder, chametz burnings in countless backyards and empty lots compete with outdoor flower vendors as to which will provide the pre-holiday smell. Of course, no Jerusalem Pesach is complete without a strike or two. When that happens, you wish the only smell would be chametz and flowers!
Amongst the other another attraction in the Holy City are the barber shops. No kidding. If you haven’t scheduled an appointment for a pre-Pesach/Omer haircut, you can’t get in the door. Restaurants offer kitniyos free menus to accommodate the largely Ashkenazic tourists that used to be Jerusalem’s bread and butter (or is it matzo and butter?).

Businesses are not the only beneficiaries of the Pesach spending spree. Mailboxes are full of Pesach appeals from dozens of organizations who help the poor celebrate the festival. And only in Israel do newspapers sell by writing articles about selfless Israelis who volunteer collecting and distributing Pesach supplies to the needy.

Another sign that the holiday spirit has arrived is the entertainment being advertised. With most of the country on vacation, posters announce everything from concerts in Chevron, to a graffiti-fest in Beersheva, and the annual Boombamela beach festival.

****We interrupt this report with a News Flash just in: According to Israel’s Brandman Research Institute study, 43 million people hours will be spent nationwide cleaning for Passover this year. Of those cleaning hours, 29 million are done by women and 11 million by men. Persons paid to clean do the remaining three million hours at a cost of NIS 64 million. (After all the extra food and vacations who can afford a maid?)****
Getting back to the sights of Jerusalem and a sign of the current economics. Supermarkets entice shoppers with an allowance to settle up the bill in six monthly payments. In other words, many will still be paying for the Seder come Rosh Hashanah!

The nation’s cars have never looked so clean. Up until now most cars in the country looked the same color, a grungy, yellowish brown. This was because of a wet winter followed by a tree-pollen shedding season. Now, vehicles of every shade and color bloom like metal flowers.

One scene you won’t see anywhere else. Various movements intent on preserving our connection to the Temple re-enact the ritual Pesach sacrifice on Jerusalem’s Givat Hananya. Participants emphasize that their slaughter and roasting of a young goat is not an official sacrifice, since this may not be done outside the Temple Mount.
Since we are dabbling in Biblical Judaism, let us move forward to Rabbinic Judaism. Israel’s chief rabbis are selling the nation’s chametz to an Arab resident of Abu Ghosh. Estimated worth: 150 million shekels!!
Pesach has arrived in Jerusalem and you now have a picture of G-d’s most precious spot on earth. In it, Jews are scrounging for their last penny while an Arab is making out like a bandit. What’s the message? We should not only declare, “Next Year in Jerusalem.” We should add “Moshiach Today.”